The fashion for rappers to drop their pants was born in impoverished areas of the United States. Residents of the ghetto were forced to wear clothes for older relatives and often the clothes were completely out of size. And the ban on wearing belts in prisons, without which large trousers would simply slide down, served as the beginning of a new specific round of fashion.

It’s not at all difficult to recognize a fan of rap culture or the artist himself. Representatives of the subculture always dress in massive sweatshirts, baseball caps with straight visors and wide pants, often lowered even to the knees. The style is not at all the idea of ​​famous stylists. It is dictated by historically established features that did not arise from a smooth and good life.

Style dictated by poverty

In the places where hip-hop culture was born, there were practically no clothing stores and there was no opportunity to dress more or less respectably. Anything was used as casual clothing, and people did not think about colors and fashion trends. The hardest thing was to buy children's clothes, so adults took care of things. Teenagers treated such gifts simply and climbed walls, attics and basements with them. That is why pants and T-shirts became ordinary rags in a matter of days.

The only way out of the situation was to select clothing items from the wardrobe of older family members. Nobody paid attention to the size: the main thing was that things were not small. And the presence of large things was countered by the argument that they would grow. So, over time, spacious clothes became commonplace, and even as they grew older, young men continued to wear lowered pants and massive T-shirts.

Prison origins

Wearing pants down is a childhood habit, but the loose belt that allows clothes to hang as low as possible is a touch of prison life, which also significantly influenced the development of hip-hop culture.

Wearing belts in prisons was prohibited for a number of reasons. Firstly, the guards were trying to reduce the number of suicides, and secondly, belts were used as the most effective murder weapon. The founders of the subculture often spent several years behind bars, because poverty, as we know, pushes people to commit crimes. The result of this unusual symbiosis was the fashion for loose, baggy clothes. Now the craze among young people for such clothing items is influencing the design of things on modern store shelves.

It is worth noting that this style has firmly entered into modern fashion trends among young people. Nice ladies use lowered women's jeans, and young people use trousers and wide sweaters. Today, loose clothing is the main symbol of freedom-loving and refusal to follow rules.

The founders of the rap genre, as well as the entire hip-hop culture, are considered to be black residents of poor areas of America. It was they who first put rhymed lines on a beat and were even able to make money from it.

It is not difficult to recognize a fan of rap music, as well as a rap artist, in a crowd. Representatives of this subculture prefer massive sweatshirts, baseball caps with a straight peak and wide pants, often pulled down noticeably below the waist. And this is by no means the idea of ​​famous stylists who promoted this style of dressing to the masses during the promotion of another star. Lowered pants are a historically established and entrenched image that was not born from a good life.

Style dictated by poverty

In the places where hip-hop culture was born, no one had the opportunity to dress in expensive stores. They put on whatever they had to, without really thinking about the combination of colors and relevance. fashion trends. And the hardest thing was to get decent children's clothes. If adults could at least somehow take care of things, then teenagers climbing walls, basements and attics easily turned already not the best pants and T-shirts into holey rags in a matter of weeks.

The only way out of a situation where a teenager has absolutely nothing to wear is to pick up something from the wardrobe of older family members. And no one really looked at the size. The main thing is that it is not too small, and if it is too big, it’s not scary, it will grow.

Over time, spacious clothes became commonplace, and even as young men grew up, they preferred massive T-shirts, hoodies, preferring them to the white-collar style.

Habit from behind bars

Wearing wide pants is a habit from childhood. But the loosened belt, which allows the trousers to hang low, exposing the underwear, is a connotation of prison life, which also influenced the development of hip-hop style of clothing.

In order to avoid suicides, as well as to prevent prisoners from using belts as weapons and even murder weapons, which often happened, prison guards prohibited the wearing of belts. The progenitors of the rap subculture were frequent guests behind bars; poverty often pushes them to commit crimes. And as a result of the symbiosis of a difficult childhood and an equally difficult life in adulthood, the habit of wearing wide pants, lowered below the waist, was born, and later the habit of black rappers grew into a craze.

The fashion for wearing pants has come so low from American prisons, where prisoners are prohibited from wearing a belt. But how low should your pants be? It turned out that how low the pants sit is determined by how much a particular prisoner wants and is ready to enter into, to put it mildly, a close relationship with another prisoner. Since about this in front of the guards in in public places You can’t talk outside the camera, so they came up with this method of giving signals to each other. The lower the pants, the more ready and willing he is. Then this fashion passed into normal life.

From rappers. The tradition is to wear wide clothes, 3-4 sizes larger, puffy jackets, oversized pants. It came from the very beginning of the formation of these redneck ditties. The very bottom of society, the scum, the criminals from the dirtiest and poorest areas, many of them dressed in garbage dumps. Discarded, old, already stretched clothes were ideal for wearing underneath 2 or 3 sweaters so as not to freeze outside. Niggas dressed in this way gathered in packs, where any outcast, according to the herd instinct, SUDDENLY began to feel like a mega-cool pepper. The “piss meter” within such groups could be measured in physical confrontations, or it could be measured in a more peaceful way - simply by showing off to each other. The show-off primates expressed their simple emotions with hand gestures and loud mutterings, and gradually, out of fun, this thing began to rhyme... no, of course, not at the level of normal poetry, but whatever. Primitive 3 hits 2 slams appeared much later.

Pants with a permanent butt that ends at the knees.

Everyone knows about these Aladdin pants, but where and why could such ugliness arise?? And most importantly, how did people agree to wear this ugliness?
Half, or even most of the designers in the fashion world are men. And it's no secret that most of them are homosexuals. “Subtle nature” and all that. And from excessive... uh... homosexual sex, problems begin with... uh... anus. Either sudden relief, or gas... generally dirty, uncomfortable and panties need to be changed often. Ugh.
And then they came up with the idea of ​​wearing diapers. But the diaper is big and uncomfortable, you can hardly stuff it into ordinary pants, and it will be visible... And then the “Alladins” appeared. Just the size of a diaper. And in order not to look ridiculous and completely stupid in them, they declared it the latest fashion. “The squeak of fashion” naturally spread around the world with a bang. Everywhere there were individuals who, without much thought, put THIS on themselves. Profit.

It's fashionable to carry small dogs with you. It originated in France during the Renaissance, when the sexual revolution nevertheless arrived and European ladies mastered at least a couple of new positions. And then... the same problems that homosexuals have.
In practice, this was expressed in the involuntary release of gas from quite sweet and pretty girls. And in some curly head the idea came to carry a small dog with you as a kind of decorative element of the dress, so that in case of embarrassment you could always blame it on it.

Version number one.
The fact is, as you know, in all prisons, in order to reduce suicide cases, belts are taken away. And people walk around in pants that barely stay in place. Having acquired such cool pants, these guys, when released, demonstrate to everyone that they have already rewinded their time.
I think this is a false version, since in American prisons they wear an orange uniform, and there they don’t even need a belt, and it’s easy to distinguish the darlings from the staff.


Version number two.
The fashion for dropped pants was brought about by those who had just been released - they lost a lot of weight in prison. From the difficult prison reality. And the clothes in which these good fellows entered the correctional facility were given back to them, and when they left they were already two sizes larger.
So recent prisoners walked around the district with their pants down, arousing delight, worship and a desire to imitate among the black youth. Well, like in Russia in the nineties. I think this is a more plausible version.




Well, number three.
Since, as I already said, many blacks are very angry at their former white masters, they have a trick of doing everything to spite the whites. So they demonstrate their protest in this way. And teenagers, out of their natural brainlessness, echo them without thinking. They think it's cool! This, IMHO, is the most realistic version.


We cannot exclude the following variant of symbiosis:


I'll also add number four.
Many rappers (and not only) (and not only in America) wear their pants down without delving into the true meaning of this act, simply because it’s kind of cool. Tol

Attention! Received version number five from mudraya1
"Macho on the hunt." What are the pants holding on to? But on the “same one”. And it, “the one”, is so powerful that it can resist the laws of gravity and hold almost fallen off pants just above the knees.

Some states tried to ban sagging pants, to which they received the following objections:

“Lynwood's young population believes the city ordinance violates their right to express themselves in dress and recommends city officials focus on keeping the city clean and tidy, not on sagging pants.”

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union said that repression was directed against people of color.
But you can’t argue against people of color in any way, that’s an argument!

In short, in the end the desire for freedom and democracy, as always, won. And we got the opportunity to continue to admire this unhealthy outfit (how do they just run away from the police?)

If anyone tells you that in America they dress differently, do not believe this person. He's lying.
In America, everyone dresses however they want. Evening suits and dresses, stiletto heels. They often wear shorts and T-shirts - it's hot. By the end of summer they can easily wear warm ones with shorts Wellingtons. And a hat with earflaps.
It's December now, and the temperature sometimes drops to zero. They wear jackets and sweaters. At the same time, you can easily wear shorts and flip-flops on your bare feet underneath. Even barefoot they can easily walk in winter.
In the summer heat it is pleasant to sit here on granite benches, which are very common:

You will see metal benches just as often.


In winter it gets hellishly cold (by local standards), but they still sit on the ice stone. This is also done in the northern states, where it is even colder, and they consider it acceptable for children.
Why don't they know the basic thing - keep your head cold and your butt warm?
I believe that in America they do not see the connection between “local hypothermia” and the common cold. Neither doctors have gone through this, nor do families even know about it. Therefore, freezing feet, stone and metal benches are the norm. And it doesn’t matter that in terms of thermal conductivity, these materials, to put it mildly, are not like wood (cold in winter, hot in summer). You can sit, and that’s okay.
Interestingly, if you end up with a bad cold and get sick, the doctor will most likely prescribe one medicine - drinking plenty of fluids.